Firewatch
Campo Santo’s Firewatch has an intentionally unsatisfying conclusion. After you, as Henry, a recent addition to a Wyoming forest’s fire lookouts, spend an entire game connecting with another lookout named Delilah, some other events go down that require both of you to leave the forest. You never meet Delilah face-to-face, but your relationship blossoms over the course of the game, and can take on a romantic context.
Exploring Shoshone National Forest and learning about its mysteries isn’t the draw of Firewatch, it’s this relationship at its center. So when events unfold, and it seems like an in-person meetup is finally going to happen…it doesn’t. You go to her tower and find items that make it clear she was just as preoccupied with this relationship as you were, but the mystery that’s unraveled has shaken her, and she’s not ready to meet Henry now.
Firewatch intentionally withholds a moment of catharsis from you, and for that reason, its ending can be very frustrating. But it also serves as a reminder that not everyone we meet is meant to be in our lives forever, and coming to terms with that is part of living. Grieving things we thought we had or wanted is just part of the package deal. — Kenneth Shepard
